REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NAGOYA -- Indonesia hopes that the Japanese automotive company Toyoto can become the country's investment ambassador to Japan in view of its long investment history in the country, stated Indonesian Trade Minister Rahmat Gobel.
"We certainly hope that Toyota could be the country's investment ambassador in Japan," he noted at the Tokyo station before leaving for Nagoya on Wednesday.
Toyota is fit to become the country's ambassador as it has a long investment history in Indonesia, he affirmed, adding that the company's success story in Indonesia is long.
The trade minister was in Japan to accompany President Joko Widodo during the latter's visit to the country to promote investment.
He emphasized that Toyota has, since long, invested in Indonesia and is one of the automotive companies in the world with the largest investment.
He expressed hope that Toyota can serve as a role model and inspire other companies in Japan to invest or increase their investment in Indonesia, moreover, in view of its reputation, as a big investor in Indonesia and the world.
Indonesia also hoped that Toyoto could make the nation as its hub for export-oriented automotive production.
"That is why we have come here to assure them that we have been ready to become a production base for export-oriented products, and we have also provided ample facilities to ease investment, including infrastructure improvement," he noted.
President Joko Widodo, on Wednesday, boarded a Shinkansen express train to visit a Toyota plant in Nagoya where he also met 36 Indonesian citizens working as trainees in the company for a year.
During the visit to the Machimoto plant, the president stated that Toyota had agreed to make Indonesia its hub for manufacturing export-oriented service products.
"And (it) has also agreed to increase (its exports) three times," he added.
He stated that Toyota's total investment in Indonesia is Rp20 trillion, and he hoped that it could encourage other investors to enter Indonesia.
"If it enters, others will follow. It is a confidence-building measure," he remarked.
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